Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery for information gathering or computer system access and in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim.

by terencemckenna on Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:17 am ([msg=54496]see Infiltrating a social circle or group of friends?[/msg])

How does one infiltrate a group of friends that is exclusive and does not welcome outsiders? I can think of a few ways and would like you to add some...not sure if this is social engineering though.Let us take drug users for example and the example of drug users would be the 420 crowd or stoners.

1. Convince them that you are one of them.

2. Become friends with a key figure in the group.

3. Make it clear that you have no interest in being their friend, be nice to them, but make them want your approval.

4. To have a friend you need to be a friend, have something to offer to the group or individuals in the group that will help you earn a reputation. People will later want to hang out with you.

5. Show them that you are very happy with the person that you are.

6. Get to know some of their names, greet those who you know the names of as often as possible

by parakkafaith on Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:28 am ([msg=54498]see Re: Infiltrating a social circle or group of friends?[/msg])

I'm not sure a "420 crowd", or "stoners" would be very unwelcoming to outsiders. Any group that you might want to "infiltrate" will probably easily pick up on such an attempt.

When you approach a situation thinking of any particular group as "them", you begin to generalize the people in that group. Even if the generalizations are resting at the back of your mind, they would likely come out in your actions as verbal cues or involuntarily body language if you aren't some kind of actor/actress.

Of course not everybody is equally capable of picking up on these cues, but my case in point is that it's probably best to remain natural and not break it down into steps. I believe it will all come down to your deductive skills and self control.

by Arameus on Sat May 07, 2011 10:39 pm ([msg=57133]see Re: Infiltrating a social circle or group of friends?[/msg])

The key to making someone think you are a part of whatever they are a part of is language. If it is a group of sysadmins and you do not know what a nfs is you will immediately be an outsider. If you seem like you are completely comfortable with the context of the group (in the case of stoners, drug and marijuana culture) it will be much easier, as they will see you as someone that fits naturally into the group. Most groups will not be hostile to someone unless they have a reason to be as people have a natural desire to be nice and friendly. Everyone wants to be helpful, you can exploit this. When someone feels like they are showing you around a social circle they it gives them a euphoric sense of belonging to the group and confidence, so gaining acceptance is usually fairly easy if you are a confident person. Have a good sense of humor and be fun to be around.